On mediocre french fries - yes. Really good french fries - no. Hamburgs - sometimes. Hot dogs - no - horseradish mustard and dill pickle relish. My grandfather used to say "If there's something you don't like, but you know it's good for you and you should eat, then put ketchup on it".

I will pour what seems like half a bottle of ketchup on a hamburger or a hot dog on one day, requiring five to seven paper napkins, and eat a hamburger perfectly plain, but for some salt, on another, and enjoy both ways equally. What I like often depends on my mood at the moment.

I think it is important to clarify what scale an opinion of quality or preference is based on. For example, if you asked your namesake, save for Dahmer, what he liked to eat, it could differ from your preferences. Thus an individual opinion of preference and a quarter won't even get you a cup of coffee. One of the best measures is general agreement, so there is no question about whether ketchup is delicious or no. The answer is yes, it is.

Under no circumstances do I eat ketchup as a condiment. My condiment of choice is hot sauce. There is something about ketchup that I find disgusting. My husband loves it! Another reason we are a perfect couple.

"...To undersalt deliberately in the name of dietary chic is to omit from the music of cookery the indispensable bass line over which all tastes and smells form their harmonies." -- Robert Farrar Capon

When I use Ketchup, it is Heinz. Sometimes on a hamburger, sometimes fries, depends on my mood. I do enjoy what is called, "Country Ketchup" from Stonewall Kitchen. I usually add a little fresh lemon juice to it. For years I would not touch the stuff. A bottle of it lasts a very long time in our house.

Heinz chili sauce is okay, though, and so is spicy cocktail sauce, both of which superficially resemble ketchup but have much more "adult" flavor profiles.

And of course, rooster sauce rules.

I finally threw away our bottle of ketchup because we had not used it in years. (Then bought another just in case).

I was a little enthusiastic when I tried Heinz Chili Sauce on eggs -- then I read the label and I think a lot of that "adult" flavor profile boils down to the unpleasant fact that the stuff is full of high fructose corn syrup!! I think that is probably what I was thinking made it "delicious."

I'll eat ketchup on a burger or fries on the rare occasion that we eat fast food out. We never seem to eat french fries at home. Naturally hot sauces are in the picture as well especially with eggs.

Frank Deis wrote:I was a little enthusiastic when I tried Heinz Chili Sauce on eggs -- then I read the label and I think a lot of that "adult" flavor profile boils down to the unpleasant fact that the stuff is full of high fructose corn syrup!! I think that is probably what I was thinking made it "delicious."

Sssshhh!!! I try to pretend I don't know that, as HCFS is something I try to avoid.

I thought ketchup had more of it, though. In my perception, which is probably biased and ridiculous, commercial ketchup consists of nothing but tomato puree, salt, HCFS and chemistry-set preservatives. Chili sauce at least has some additional flavors to lend it (relative) complexity. That's what I meant by "adult."

For what it's worth, some of the hipster restaurants around here that I frequent have taken to serving house-made ketchup, which I hope does not contain HCFS and tastes pretty good.

French fries taste good to me with ketchup, but it's hardly a neccessity. Closer to neccessity it ketchup with fried shrimp.

But speaking of ketchup, a restaurant we dined at in Vancouver once served a very complex and tangy homemade 'ketchup' with bison ribs--ooh la la. If what came in the bottle tasted like that, ketchup would have a lot more adult fans and I'd be one of them.

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

We switched to Wegman's ketchup which pretty much stands up to Heinz's ketchup. I use it on hamburgers with a thick slice of fresh onion and occasionally with certain fries. I also like it on meatloaf and (God forgive me) macaroni and cheese, even the good kind! My wife shoots me evil glances when I do the latter. It is a leftover from my childhood. I like the sweet and savory flavors mixed together.

Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knowsThat too many people have died?The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the windThe answer is blowin' in the wind.